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Sunday, May 3, 2015

Crockpot Brat 'N' Tot ***

This was my attempt at turning my oven version of the Brat 'N' Tot Bake into a crockpot dish. I've done it before, but the last time, I was limited on time (as usual) and thought I would be brilliant and skip the step of frying the bratwurst by instead using the pre-cooked brats. Bad idea. It made for far too much oil in there. I hadn't thought about it, but frying the brat meat gets the grease out of it.

So this time, I smartened up and stuck with frying the cased brats. I then put them in a colander and not only drained but also rinsed them well. SO much more effective. The amounts are a little different in the crockpot version, simply because I have a big crockpot and didn't want to risk overcooking. It made for a decent amount of leftovers for lunch, though, so it all worked out. The only difference was that I doubled the meat and onion and soup. I kept the tots and sour cream and cheese amounts the same. I think that next time I might try layering them a bit. Maybe do tots, brats, soup, tots, and cheese. We'll see. It's great just like this, though. The Brat 'N' Tot Bake is one of hubby's favorites, but with such a long cook time (not even including the prep time of precooking the meat), I don't get to make it very often. This is a perfect compromise for us. The flavor of the tots was great, and while they didn't get mushy or anything, they did fall apart a little. So, this is definitely a keeper for us. It was yummy and easy, which make it a winner in my book. ;-)

Remove bratwurst from casings. Crumble bratwurst into a large skillet. Add onions and cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain and rinse in colander. Add to crockpot, and stir in the soup. Cover with tater tots. Spread sour cream on tots, and sprinkle with cheese. Cook on low 5-6 hours.